Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-09-22
SHE BECAME A CATHOLIC
A PROTESTANT WOMAN WON FROM
HER FAITH.

1t Occurred While She Was sick-AskeA
citations With a Determined No-Then
the Lord Appeared Before Her and
She Changed.
PITTsBuRG, Penn, Sept. 21.-1t is not
q strange thing for people of the protest
ant faith to be converted to Catholicism,
but it is a very rare occurrence for peo-
pie to be converted, as was Mrs. ]. w.
Simonton, a well-known and highly re-
speeted woman of Lawrencsville. A re-
porter in his search for news was given
information that led to the unearthing of
the story, n a call was made at the
millinery store of J. w. Simonton, No.
4119 Ruth street. Mrs. Simonton, a
modest little woman, spoke freely on the
subject, but was afraid of getting too
much notoriety through the newspapers,
n Ii was only reluctantly that she con-
sented to the uss of her name.
She said: 81 was raised by my grand
parents, who lived in Richmond county,
Ohio, and who were strict Lutherans. ]
was brought up In that faith, but was
sort of lukewarm, and did not attend
church much. I had a brother, now
dead, who WAS a very steadfast member
of the Methodist church, and wanted me
to join that denomination, but / laughed
him OFF and refused. He and / were the
hest of friends, but we could not hit it
very well on religious matters. We at
last made an agreement that he was to
do as he pleased about religious matters
and I could do the same. / was married
when quite young to Mr.. Simonton, who
was then q Catholic. He had been con-
verted from The Presbyterian 4aith, and
he often talked about my joining his
church.
"About four years after was mar
ried, y continued the lady, 81 wa taken
with typhoid fever and laid in bed eight
weeks. One evening a number OF my
friends, who were Catholics, and Father
Holland, then stationed at the cathedral,
visited me, and while they wanted nae to
embrace the Roman faith, Father Hol-
land said that the doctor told him / had
better receive some spiritual consolation.
he said that he would pray for me, and
left the house. After he was gone the
ladies earnestly entreated me to become
q Catholic, knelt down by the bedside
and offered up prayer for me. turned
my back upon them, and with my face to
the wall said that I would be guided by
what the Lord told me-. I fell asleep and
shortly afterward a vision appeared to
me. In 1t was a white-robed figure, and
y beckoned me to follow. / was then
living on Grant strset, and the figure led
me to Trinity Episcopal church, GA Sixth
venue We passed into the church.
which was very dark and gloomy, and
the figure asked me if that was the
church / wanted to belong to. After
looking around, and not being satisfied.
l told it 40. 1t. then took me to the
Methodist church, or as il was then
called THE Birthstone Corner, at the
corner of Smithfleld and Seventh avenue
We went into the church, which was
darker Than the other, and I was asked
how I liked this church. / said that I
didn't like il, and vas told to sit down
and wait.
"After waiting a short time, the min
lister appeared in the pulpit and started
to speak. His eyes were like balls Of
fire, and as he spoke showers Of fire came
out Of his mouth. / was terribly fright
ened and told the figure that that
preacher is a devil and he took mo to
another church. Before taking sick I
had attended this church very often.
The preacher, when he afterwards heard
from somebody to whom I related the
experience that I called him d devil. had
me expelled from the church, and in less
than two weeks he was dismissed himself
for some trouble he mad. The white.
robed figure led me out and took me to
fhA M r~uf prochryk4vf~- r-.
street. This did not suit me any better
than the others, and, while It was a nice
church, Ibid not possess the right feeling
while in it. We next visited the German
Reformed church, on Grant street. now
the Reformed Presbyterian, but this did
not suit me either, as it was about as
duu as the others. The figure finally
beckoned me to follow, and we went
down Grant street to a little Welsh
church, which I now think is being used
as q synagogue. Everything was strange.
and, like the others, there was very little
light to be seen. Most of them had small.
lights, that looked like stars and were
about as far OF I told the figure that I
had not found the right church vet. and
1T said we would try again.
ssThe next place We went into was ST.
Pauls Cathedral, and as we walked nm
the aisle I felt az though I was going into
the right church. Everything looked
bright, and thousands of lights burning
brightly were to be seen. Right almost
over the altar S bright light was moving.
and looked for all the world like the ris-
ing OF the sun. The bishop was sitting
near the altar, and around his head was,
a halo of light. A great MANY white
robed angels came out and knelt down
at the railing. A supernatural feeling
possessed me, and l was sure that / was
in the right place. The figure did not
say anything for quite a while, and after
/ had viewed everything to my s~atisfac-
ton, said, Well, do you like thiss' i re-
Piled that !, thought 1t was the right
church, and said that I would stay right
There. The figure replied: swell. YOU
can suit yourself, The figure then took
its departure from the church and left
ms alone. felt that religion had dit last
entered into my heart, and was very
happy while sitting there In the midst Of
all h bright surroundings. While:I
was drinking in the beautiful scenes, and
while in the midst Of my r~leasantest
feelings / awoks from my dream Of bliss.
On the next morning Father Holland
iyisited nae and said that he had prayed